Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia is at the centre of a battle for Turkey’s soul
Controversy has erupted over calls to turn the museum back into a mosque
The Hagia Sophia. As a museum that attracts millions of tourists, it is worth tens of millions of dollars to local authorities every year. Photograph: Getty Images
As man-made monuments go, the Hagia Sophia is one of the world’s most distinguished. The imposing, 1,480-year-old building in the heart of Istanbul’s Sultanahmet district stood for almost 1,000 years as an ornate cathedral, a place where Byzantine emperors came to be crowned.
After Mehmed the Conqueror’s Muslim army breached the city walls in 1453, it was converted into an imperial mosque, and served as pride of place under Ottoman rule for almost five centuries thereafter.